The most recent New Yorker has an excellent article on the Bush Administration's view of the press, titled Bush's Press Problem. It is well worth reading. In it is a reference to a quote from Andrew Card, presidential chief-of-staff, who says that he didn't believe that the press had a "check-and-balance function." The article also notes that the Adminstration just sees the press as "another special interest."
Comments like this from the Bush White House make me wonder if the leaders of this administration grew up in the same country I did.
I still remember reading about the Zenger trial in social studies in high school which first established the importance of a free press in this country.
I remember growing up during the 70s being taught that one of the most important differences between America and the Soviet Union was a free press.
I remember that freedom of the press is in the first amendment with freedom of religion and freedom of speech. I always figured that the Founding Fathers put these freedoms first because they were pretty important.
The Bush Administration seems to think that as long as they are not physically burning printing presses, then they are supporting "freedom of the press." But, freedom of the press is more than that.
Ben Franklin, as printer, understand the power of the freedom of the press which he immortalized in a poem. It's clear that he didn't think that the press was just another special interest but played a critical role in keeping government honest. Thomas Jefferson, despite the fact that he was frequently assaulted by the press during his Administration said, among other things, that "were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
This is a long-winded way of saying that I believe (and I think the Founding Fathers would agree) that there is an obligation of the government--state, local and federal--to respond accurately and thoughtfully to reasonable inquiries by the press. In this day and age, this means, among other things, having regular press conferences (more than three a year) and not responding to straightforward queries with a panicky "that's a trick question".
I want to sit down with these jokers in the White House with this warped view of the First Amendment and ask (as Fraser posed to Cliff in Cheers after a particular memorable Claven ramble): "What color is the sky on your world?"
